by Garry K. Williams "Design a injection molded rocking horse that will fold for storage and that children can carry... -- A Foldable Rocking Horse? And do it within our established manufacturing system. -- Can do! By the way, we need a functioning prototype of the final design... -- No problem! Built for inclusion in our catalogs. -- O.K. We need it yesterday! -- Of course you do! " Just another day at the office for a freelance guy like me.

nyway, the client had an established hardgood line to emulate, a history of being easy to work with (knowledge of, and involvement in the design process), and a seed of an idea doodled on a legal pad.

The first thing I did was to measure a couple of kids. I measured them every which way and worked up a range of size specifications. These were transferred to a variety of sketched positions on a single sheet of paper to use as a quick reference.

Next came a series of design sketches considering all the parameters. I consider this to be akin to building a puzzle. One set of sketches addressed the molding process and the style of other Hoohobbers products. Another set addressed the aesthetics - how to capture the ever ready playful nature of a pony looking for adventure. A third set looked at safety; solid locking for the folding joints, no pinch points, rounded surfaces, etc. Finally, the best features of each set of sketches were put together to present a picture, and a couple of simple wire models were built to clarify the ideas.

One of the designs was chosen by the staff at Hoohobbers, and a rough model was built to one quarter scale. After a couple of meetings to discuss refinements, a full scale rough model was built and taken to the plastics molder. There we discussed potential mold problems, materials issues, etc., and then a set of drawings was generated.

Once the drawings were approved, I built the final prototype to use for the catalog shots, and another puzzle was solved. The Rocking Horse has been successful in the marketplace, and was chosen by The Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association as The Best Product of the Year.

Garry K. Williams & The Williams Studio